Four weeks down, twelve more to go.
That means I’ve got a quarter of this absurd semester finished. O_O I think I’ll be a better person by the end of it. I’m already significantly more organized and efficient, but I’ve also had to confront so much about myself this past month - like, existing all day in a professional environment is HARD for me. Not just the getting up early and the stop and go traffic and the clothes I’m not really comfortable in yet... I mean that whole thing where you’re not supposed to sway where you’re standing and chew your fingers constantly and drift off into daydreams often - etc. It was emotional at first to sit around with other people in an office and think, “OH, it is not a minute by minute struggle for most of these people, to be mentally present and not fidget. Ok.”
I’ve spent a lot of years in a carefully crafted environment where I can be comfortable and at ease, even when I have a lot to do.
I also realized last semester in my Interview and Practice classes that there is this whole visual skill set involved with face to face talking, that I did not have to concern myself with AT ALL while doing crisis counseling over the phone. It is a-ok to doodle continuously while you talk with a warm tone and pay close attention to what someone is saying, when they can’t see you.
I was also blessedly able to take the late shift at the Switchboard, thus dodging both the dress code and rush hour - but I digress.